Wasteland Wanderers

The next few hours spent in Goodsprings were long and arduous; the dead Powder Gangers were all dragged to the outskirts of town and left in the sun to cook before they were eaten by geckos and other wasteland wildlife – after Marty made sure to loot them for anything useful, which disgusted the girls to no end – and Rainbow was dragged back to Doc Mitchell’s place to get the bullet taken out of her leg.

Somehow getting the bullet removed was worse for the runner than actually getting shot, and Rainbow had to bite down hard on a piece of scrap wood to keep her screaming to a minimum as the doc dug the lead out, and the others could hardly bear to watch.

Understandably, Doc Mitchell wasn’t willing to let the group wander out into the desert after such an ordeal – especially considering the bullet removal had forced him to use all the supplies in one of the doctor’s bags he’d given Marty before the lead started flying – so the gang was forced to stay the night in town. They considered asking some of the locals if they could room in their houses, but Trudy just suggested they camp at the side of the road to get used to the way things worked in the wasteland. She provided a few bedrolls from the saloon’s supply room free of charge, and – after giving the simplest explanation possible about their magic to Marty and setting some ground rules for its use; only when there was no other option according to Twilight – they all set up for the night on the side of the road out of town.

Sunset could barely sleep out there, especially since the remaining bloodstain from where she’d blown Joe Cobb’s brains out was right there. She did eventually get to sleep, but she tossed and turned as nightmares flooded her mind… and they all ended with that bullet she put in Cobb. She still felt disgusted by what she’d done, but then it got worse somehow when Cobb shot up with blood pouring down his face and murder in his dead eyes. “AAH!” Sunset screeched in fear as she woke up, her eyes darting every which way in her skull as she looked around, seeing only sand, cracked asphalt, and blood splatter; no zombies out for revenge.

She could feel tears coming to her eyes despite herself and carefully yet desperately started digging through the rucksack of supplies Chet had sold her, much like the ones sold to the others. It didn’t take her long to find what she was looking for; a small syringe labeled as Med-X, but Chet had made it clear what it really was… morphine; a powerful painkiller. Sunset knew it wouldn’t actually help her mind, and she certainly wasn’t typically one to indulge in drugs, but she didn’t care right now; she just needed something right now to help her feel at ease. She looked down at her arm and grit her teeth as she held the needle closer to her skin. It was just about to enter her flesh when she saw Twilight stirring as if she was about to wake up, so she quickly put the needle back into her bag and simply got up, walking a few steps away from the group as Twilight woke up.

She looked and was surprised to see Sunset standing away from them, apparently looking out at the horizon toward New Vegas. Twilight was more than a bit worried about her; Sunset had been distant since Marty basically forced her to kill Joe Cobb. Chancing it, she climbed out of her own bedroll and walked over to her. “Can’t sleep?” Sunset didn’t respond; she just kept staring stoically at the glittering tower of Vegas. Twilight knew this wouldn’t go anywhere anytime fast if she didn’t get Sunset talking, so she tried again. “It wasn’t your fault, y’know.”

“Yes, it was. It all is.” Sunset reminded. “I’m the one who suggested that magic radar in the first place. I’m supposed to be our leader, but so far all I’ve done has gotten us hurt, exposed, or traumatized.”

Twilight was only somewhat happy they got around to that part; she could plainly see how much Sunset didn’t want to think about how she killed an unarmed man… or how close their makeshift camp was to where she’d puked her guts out afterward. “Look Sunset, I know you’re in a bad place right now, but-”

“‘A bad place’?” Sunset asked incredulously. “‘A bad place’?! I killed someone, Twilight! I shot a man in the head and left him in the desert for the buzzards! Do you have any idea how many levels of wrong that is?! Especially for me! Do you know how rare murder is in Equestria?! Ending a life, taking away everything that a person ever was and were ever going to be, just- just ripping a hole in a community like that and leaving nothing?! That’s one of the worst crimes you can commit! How am I supposed to just get over that?!” She dropped to sit down in the sand and wipe the small tears from her eyes. “It’s probably better if I just don’t go home at all.”

Twilight was shocked by this as she stepped forward to her friend. “Sunset. Look at me.” she insisted, but Sunset just kept her eyes on her feet in the dirt. “Look at me!” Sunset scowled as she stood up and looked Twilight in the eye, as if daring her to say something. “What was the first thing you thought after what happened at the Fall Formal?”

Sunset was surprised and confused about where she was going with this. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Answer the question; maybe you’ll find out.” Twilight goaded.

“Alright, if you must know, the first thing I thought was-” Sunset froze as she thought back to that night; kneeling there in that crater in front of Canterlot High after being defeated so completely. “…that I had to get away from CHS as fast as possible. Like nothing else would really be enough to make up for what I’d done except if no one ever saw me again.” She looked back at Twilight with a look of shock on her face, having realized exactly what her friend was getting at.

“Exactly.” Twilight nodded, placing her hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “You killed someone, that’s true. But he attacked us first, and he and his men probably would’ve killed us all if they had the chance, so he was hardly innocent. And if you do still feel bad about it, then, well… that’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

Now Sunset’s face held an expression of bewilderment. “How is that a good thing?” she asked seriously.

“Because…” Twilight said as she tucked herself back into her bedroll. “Only a monster wouldn’t feel remorse about killing someone, right?” Sunset could barely get in another word before Twilight went back to sleep.

Sunset was left with almost too much to think about as she looked out at the horizon. She knew Twilight was right about that much; she never would have thought about murder, even in her time as the Demon Queen of Canterlot High, but it brought her back to everything she’d done at CHS up to the Fall Formal. She never felt bad about that before the dance, but after her defeat… she’d spent every spare moment up to the Battle of the Bands trying to make reparations for what she’d done. She knew it would take a lot of soul-searching before she could come to terms with it, but it almost seemed like her friends had already accepted the new rules of the Mojave Wasteland. Pinkie’s hair was still as puffy as ever as she slept so that was a good sign – if for no other reason than it meant Rainbow would win her bet with Marty if she stayed happy like that for the next two days – but she was still worried.

After all, this was just their first day in the wasteland and Sunset had already thrown up. If she knew what was in store for herself and the others in this mad world…